78330 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2023 / Notices 

hunting areas, (ii) directly displacing 

subsistence users, or (iii) placing 

physical barriers between the marine 

mammals and the subsistence hunters, 

and (2) that cannot be sufficiently 

mitigated by other measures to increase 

the availability of marine mammals to 

allow subsistence needs to be met. 

In the Haines area sea lions and 

harbor seals are available for subsistence 

harvest under the MMPA. Limited 

subsistence harvests of marine 

mammals near the community of Haines 

has occurred in the past, with the most 

recent recorded/documented harvests of 

marine mammals in Haines in 2012 and 

in nearby Klukwan in 2014. The 

proposed activity will take place in 

Lutak Inlet, and no activities overlap 

with current subsistence hunting areas; 

therefore, there are no relevant 

subsistence uses of marine mammals 

adversely impacted by this action. The 

proposed project is not likely to 

adversely impact the availability of any 

marine mammal species or stocks that 

are commonly used for subsistence 

purposes or to impact subsistence 

harvest of marine mammals in the 

region. 

Based on the description of the 

specified activity, the measures 

described to minimize adverse effects 

on the availability of marine mammals 

for subsistence purposes, and the 

proposed mitigation and monitoring 

measures, NMFS has preliminarily 

determined that there will not be an 

unmitigable adverse impact on 

subsistence uses from Haines Borough’s 

proposed activities. 

Endangered Species Act 

Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) requires that each Federal 

agency insure that any action it 

authorizes, funds, or carries out is not 

likely to jeopardize the continued 

existence of any endangered or 

threatened species or result in the 

destruction or adverse modification of 

designated critical habitat. To ensure 

ESA compliance for the issuance of 

IHAs, NMFS consults internally 

whenever we propose to authorize take 

for endangered or threatened species, in 

this case with the Alaska Regional 

Office. 

NMFS is proposing to authorize take 

of Mexico DPS of humpback whales and 

western DPS of Steller sea lions, which 

are listed under the ESA. 

The Office of Protected Resources has 

requested initiation of section 7 

consultation with the Alaska Regional 

Office for the issuance of this IHA. 

NMFS will conclude the ESA 

consultation prior to reaching a 

determination regarding the proposed 

issuance of the authorization. 

Proposed Authorization 

As a result of these preliminary 

determinations, NMFS proposes to issue 

an IHA to Haines Borough for 

conducting pile driving and removal 

activities in, Lutak Alaska from 1-year of 

the date of issuance of the final IHA, 

provided the previously mentioned 

mitigation, monitoring, and reporting 

requirements are incorporated. A draft 

of the proposed IHA can be found at: 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

national/marine-mammal-protection/ 

incidental-take-authorizationsconstruction-activities. 

Request for Public Comments 

We request comment on our analyses, 

the proposed authorization, and any 

other aspect of this notice of proposed 

IHA for the proposed action. We also 

request comment on the potential 

renewal of this proposed IHA as 

described in the paragraph below. 

Please include with your comments any 

supporting data or literature citations to 

help inform decisions on the request for 

this IHA or a subsequent renewal IHA. 

On a case-by-case basis, NMFS may 

issue a one-time, 1-year renewal IHA 

following notice to the public providing 

an additional 15 days for public 

comments when (1) up to another year 

of identical or nearly identical activities 

as described in the Description of 

Proposed Activity section of this notice 

is planned or (2) the activities as 

described in the Description of 

Proposed Activity section of this notice 

would not be completed by the time the 

IHA expires and a renewal would allow 

for completion of the activities beyond 

that described in the Dates and Duration 

section of this notice, provided all of the 

following conditions are met: 

• A request for renewal is received no 

later than 60 days prior to the needed 

renewal IHA effective date (recognizing 

that the renewal IHA expiration date 

cannot extend beyond 1-year from 

expiration of the initial IHA); and 

• The request for renewal must 

include the following: 

(1) An explanation that the activities 

to be conducted under the requested 

renewal IHA are identical to the 

activities analyzed under the initial 

IHA, are a subset of the activities, or 

include changes so minor (e.g., 

reduction in pile size) that the changes 

do not affect the previous analyses, 

mitigation and monitoring 

requirements, or take estimates (with 

the exception of reducing the type or 

amount of take); and 

(2) A preliminary monitoring report 

showing the results of the required 

monitoring to date and an explanation 

showing that the monitoring results do 

not indicate impacts of a scale or nature 

not previously analyzed or authorized. 

Upon review of the request for 

renewal, the status of the affected 

species or stocks, and any other 

pertinent information, NMFS 

determines that there are no more than 

minor changes in the activities, the 

mitigation and monitoring measures 

will remain the same and appropriate, 

and the findings in the initial IHA 

remain valid. 

Dated: November 8, 2023. 

Shannon Bettridge, 

Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, 

National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25097 Filed 11–14–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD516] 

Marine Mammals and Endangered 

Species 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permits and 

permit amendments. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

permits and permit amendments have 

been issued to the following entities 

under the Marine Mammal Protection 

Act (MMPA) and the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA), as applicable. 

ADDRESSES: The permits and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request via email to 

NMFS.Pr1Comments@noaa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Shasta McClenahan, Ph.D., (Permit No. 

27155), Amy Hapeman (Permit No. 

22156–05), and Jennifer Skidmore 

(Permit No. 27459); at (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notices 

were published in the Federal Register 

on the dates listed below that requests 

for a permit or permit amendment had 

been submitted by the below-named 

applicants. To locate the Federal 

Register notice that announced our 

receipt of the application and a 

complete description of the activities, go 

to https://www.federalregister.gov and 

search on the permit number provided 

in Table 1 below. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 219 / Wednesday, November 15, 2023 / Notices 78331 

TABLE 1—ISSUED PERMITS AND PERMIT AMENDMENTS

Permit No. RTID Applicant Previous Federal Register notice Issuance Date 

22156–05 ....... 0648–XC660 .... Douglas Nowacek, Ph.D., Duke University Marine 

Laboratory, 135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516.

88 FR 2070, January 12, 2023 ... October 16, 2023. 

27155 ............. 0648–XD227 ..... Jamie Lloyd-Smith, Ph.D., University of California, 

Los Angeles, 610 Charles East Young Drive 

South, Los Angeles, CA 90095.

88 FR 55017, August 14, 2023 ... October 11, 2023. 

27459 ............. 0648–XD322 ..... Robin Trayler, Ph.D., University of California, 

Merced, 5200 North Lake Road, Science and 

Engineering 1, 283, Merced, CA 95343.

88 FR 60650, September 5, 2023 October 23, 2023. 

In compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), a final 

determination has been made that the 

activities proposed for Permit Nos. 

27155 and 27459 are categorically 

excluded from the requirement to 

prepare an environmental assessment 

(EA) or environmental impact statement 

(EIS). 

For Permit No. 22156–05, an EA was 

prepared analyzing the effects of the 

permitted activities on the human 

environment in compliance with NEPA. 

Based on the analyses in the EA, NMFS 

determined that issuance of the permit 

amendment would not significantly 

impact the quality of the human 

environment and that preparation of an 

EIS was not required. That 

determination is documented in a 

Finding of No Significant Impact, signed 

on October 16, 2023. 

As required by the ESA, as applicable, 

issuance of these permit was based on 

a finding that such permits: (1) were 

applied for in good faith; (2) will not 

operate to the disadvantage of such 

endangered species; and (3) are 

consistent with the purposes and 

policies set forth in Section 2 of the 

ESA. 

Authority: The requested permits 

have been issued under the MMPA of 

1972, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1361 et 

seq.), the regulations governing the 

taking and importing of marine 

mammals (50 CFR part 216), the ESA of 

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.), and the regulations governing the 

taking, importing, and exporting of 

endangered and threatened species (50 

CFR parts 222–226), as applicable. 

Dated: November 9, 2023. 

Julia M. Harrison, 

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, 

Office of Protected Resources, National 

Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25171 Filed 11–14–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD520] 

New England Fishery Management 

Council; Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The New England Fishery 

Management Council (Council) is 

scheduling a meeting of its Scallop 

Advisory Panel via webinar to consider 

actions affecting New England fisheries 

in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

Recommendations from this group will 

be brought to the full Council for formal 

consideration and action, if appropriate. 

DATES: This meeting will be held on 

Wednesday, November 29, 2023, at 8:30 

a.m. 

ADDRESSES: 

Webinar URL information: https://

attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/ 

8294085035285445472. 

Council address: New England 

Fishery Management Council, 50 Water 

Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cate 

O’Keefe, Ph.D., Executive Director, New 

England Fishery Management Council; 

telephone: (978) 465–0492. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Agenda 

The Advisory Panel will review 

Framework 38 (FW38): review 

specifications alternatives in FW38 and 

select final preferred alternatives. FW38 

will set specifications including the 

overfishing limit (OFL), acceptable 

biological catch/annual catch limit 

(ABC/ACLs), days-at-sea (DAS), access 

area allocations for Limited Access (LA) 

vessels, quota and access area trip 

allocation to the Limited Access General 

Category (LAGC) Individual Fishing 

Quota (IFQ) component, Total 

Allowable Landings (TAL) for Northern 

Gulf of Maine (NGOM) management 

area, a target-TAC for LAGC incidental 

catch and set-asides for the observer and 

research programs for fishing year 2024, 

and default specifications for fishing 

year 2025. This action also considers 

increasing VMS ping rates for scallop 

vessels to improve enforcement in the 

scallop fishery. Other business will be 

discussed, if necessary. 

Although non-emergency issues not 

contained on the agenda may come 

before this Council for discussion, those 

issues may not be the subject of formal 

action during this meeting. Council 

action will be restricted to those issues 

specifically listed in this notice and any 

issues arising after publication of this 

notice that require emergency action 

under section 305(c) of the MagnusonStevens Act, provided the public has 

been notified of the Council’s intent to 

take final action to address the 

emergency. The public also should be 

aware that the meeting will be recorded. 

Consistent with 16 U.S.C. 1852, a copy 

of the recording is available upon 

request. 

Special Accommodations 

This meeting is physically accessible 

to people with disabilities. Requests for 

sign language interpretation or other 

auxiliary aids should be directed to Cate 

O’Keefe, Ph.D., Executive Director, at 

(978) 465–0492, at least 5 days prior to 

the meeting date. 

Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq. 

Dated: November 9, 2023. 

Rey Israel Marquez, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25241 Filed 11–14–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1